Henri Boillot’s accessible, handcrafted White Burgundy Sample world class Chardonnay. Delicious and Ready to Drink

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  Henri Boillot, the man behind this Bourgogne Blanc

Mostly Meursault grapes with a Bourgogne Blanc price tag from Henri Boillot, one of Burgundy’s finest white wine producers.

Henri Boillot makes a very classy Bourgogne Blanc, using grapes from his Meursault, and neighboring St Romain, and Auxey-Duresses vineyards. Boillot’s overall yields in 2007 were 18 hl/ha (hectoliters per hectare). 18!! This is nearly unheard of and certainly 100% stricter than most other growers in Burgundy. But that’s not unusual for a perfectionist like Henri Boillot who would rather throw out all his grapes than make a wine that wasn’t up to his exacting standards.

“Boillot describes the 2007 wines as thicker and more concentrated than the 2006s, with more coloring material and better acidity. In fact, he added, they have more punch than the 2005s. Boillot de-cuved with a significant amount of unfermented sugar remaining in 2007, allowing the wines to finish in barrel, and he believes that this measure has given the wines more volume.” -Tanzer

Many of you know Henri Boillot and many of you strip my stocks every time I offer his wines, but here is a Boillot you can afford to open on occasionally versus waiting for a Christening or for the Dow to put on a 1000 points, which might be more appropriate for his premier crus.

The soil is clay-limestone, the perfect mixture to nurture those Chardonnay grapes. The grapes are, of course, hand-harvested. There is a tri, which is a strict sorting of the grapes when they arrive to the cave. The alcoholic fermentation takes place in wood vats. The juice is aged for 10 months in a judicious amount of new oak and oak that has seen one and two harvests. This is very rare for Bourgogne Blanc but this is the Boillot dedication to making the best of everything he bottles.

The purity of an Henri Boillot is an amazing part of the whole taste experience. All you taste is the agrumes (a combination of citrus flavors) and the mineral from the soil. Henri works until he gets it just right or else he doesn’t put his name on it.

As usual with Boillot, the supply is very limited. Last year, it sold out almost immediately. I am already down to 10 cases. I can reliably predict that it will disappear very quickly. This is a Boillot that’s ready for uncorking tonight. Now, that’s something to look forward to. Cynthia Hurley

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